The Glint of Gold (chanterelle). Photo by Sue Labiste The Glint of Gold Sue Labiste Looking for fall chanterelles is like treasure hunt. Fall leaves such as tan oak mimics the yellow and orange colours we seek. And just as you head out, you see this. Camera (Not provided) Focal L. Aperture Shutter Sp. ISO Flash Photo taken on November 16, 2015 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

News & Stories / Mycology & Art News Mushroom ID Series Cancelled - Spring 2014 Due to the ongoing drought and lack of mushrooms, the FFSC identification class series will not be held this spring. Deb • January 13, 2014 Not much to see out there right now The "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" of high pressure parked off the California coast has brought the local mushroom season to an effective close. Raindances are encouraged! Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Mushroom ID Classes: Fall 2013 Series Mycology & Art News Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Adventures in Austria This summer I was fortunate to have the opportunity to join a group of 4 other people to accompany Daniel Winkler on one of his MushRoaming tours. Phil Carpenter • October 16, 2015 Phil with a patch of chanterelles in Austria (2015) If you are unaware of this company, Daniel leads multiple mycological eco-tours to many areas of the world. Check out his website at mushroaming.com . This summer was the first time he organized a trip to his homeland, Munich, Germany. Daniel's family owns a 300+ year old farmhouse (Severenhaus) in St. Johann, a small town in the beautiful Tyrolean Alps a short drive from Munich. Growing up, he spent a lot of time there with his family and developed his interest and knowledge about mushrooms in the spruce and beech forests of the area. After meeting up with the group in Munich and doing some great sightseeing in the ancient capital of Bavaria, we loaded up the rental van and drove to St. Johann through the picturesque Tyrolean Alps. The area is well known for its many ski areas and unique wooden architecture. Our destination was Severenhaus where we were most comfortably housed. A unique feature of this very old but very sturdy building was the low doorways. The bottom of the heavy beams forming the top of the doorway was right at the middle of my forehead, and I’m not a tall person. Needless to say, there were a number of encounters with those most solid beams, especially for the taller people in the group. The Severenhaus was located outside of town at the base of the Niederkaiser, a low limestone mountain range in the shadow of the much taller and more rugged Wilderkaiser range. Of course, as soon as we unloaded our gear, we set off behind the house on our first little mushroom foray. Unfortunately, the area had just experience record high temperatures for a while before we arrived so conditions were pretty dry and few mushrooms were found. Mostly, we found some small Marasmius species. Chanterelles in the Viktualien market in Munich (2015) The next day, however, we drove to an area nearby where there were extensive sphagnum moss beds and notably more moisture. We hit the jackpot there filling our baskets with the small European chanterelles. A “big” one was maybe and inch and a half across, many being smaller. They were certainly tasty, though! Since we ate most of our meals at Severenhaus, we had them fixed in many different dishes. On those occasions when we sampled the very tasty local restaurant cuisine, there were always chanterelle dishes on the menu. They were also found in many of the local open-air markets. Dried boletes in the Viktualien market in Munich (2015) Over the next week, we alternated sight-seeing and collecting forays to various regions in the area. One day we went to Salzburg and visited Mozart’s place of birth as well as the imposing castle high on the central hill. After reaching St. Johann, we had much cooler and rainy weather which was great for the Dried boletes in the Viktualien market in Munich. We did much better towards the end of the trip and were able to put together a species list of nearly 100 species. I was very surprised to find that I was able to not only recognize the mushroom genera but also many species. Daniel had a number of field guides for the area but they were all in German. With Daniel translating and the color photographs for all the mushrooms, we were able to positively identify nearly everything we found. Daniel Winkler with a cluster of Lyophyllum decastes (fried chicken mushrooms) The trip was over much sooner than we’d have liked but we went away having seen the incredibly beautiful scenery of the area, experienced some great habitats and mushroom fruitings, had some long and exhilarating hikes in the steep local mountains, ate some delicious meals, both at restaurants and the Severenhaus, and of course, sampled quite a few of the numerous local beers. I even took the opportunity to visit the world’s oldest continuously operating brewery (Weihenstephan, brewing since 1040!) in Freising, about an hour train ride outside of Munich. I’d like to add that this trip with Daniel was very well organized, relaxed but efficient and thoroughly enjoyable. The group was friendly and of varied and interesting backgrounds. It was a real pleasure to be able to share the Winkler family house in Austria and experience the comfortable feeling of being in a home instead of a hotel. If you have a chance to join Daniel on one of his trips, I highly recommend going! Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Field Report - 2021 NAMA Foray Grandby CO Field Reports Phil Carpenter receives Knighton Award at Appalachia NAMA 2023 Stewardship Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Time Lapsed Laetiporous Time lapse of chicken-of-the-woods growing over 11 days. Phil Carpenter • October 12, 2023 Day 11 (Laetiporus time lapse). Photo by Phil Carpenter I discovered this Laetiporus growing on one of my eucalyptus stumps. To record its growth, I took the same picture every day for 11 days, and sent them out to club members, so we could all watch its growth together. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Phil Carpenter receives Knighton Award at Appalachia NAMA 2023 Stewardship Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Showcase a Photo Do you have beautiful, interesting or just plain quirky photos of mushrooms to share? FFSC members share their photos of mushrooms and events to our FFSC Google Group and the FFSC Facebook Group. Selected images (editor’s choice) can also be posted on this FFSC website and FFSC's Instagram page. Strobilurus trullisatus (Fort Bragg 2013). Photo by Hugh Smith Some of the photos on this website were originally posted many years ago when the size limitations were much lower. We'd love to replace them with sharper originals if possible--and we're interested in new photos too! Info We Need from You If you have great photos to share, here's the information we'll need from you: Your name - For the photo credit. Latin binomial (if it's a mushroom you've identified) Date shot - Approximate month and year Backstory - Any stories to tell about the photo? Or rough location or region, or habitat info, did you leave them in the field or bring home? If edible, how did you prepare them? The photo's specs : If you're sharing a photo to include in Fungi Photo Gallery, please provide the photo's ISO speed, exposure, focal length, and aperture; flash usage if any; and the camera make and model. (Or don't delete the photo's original EXIF data.) Technical Requirements This website automatically crops and resizes each photo to adapt to different page layouts, screen sizes and orientations, etc. Thus, your photo will work better on this site if you follow these guidelines: Don't crop the photo: Instead, share a photo in which the main subject has plenty of breathing room around all sides (so the interesting bits don't get cropped out by our system). File size: At least 100KB (max is 25 MB). Resolution: At least 2560x1440. 3000x3000 is better for images that will be zoomed in, and for background images DPI : 72 DPI is acceptable. (Or up to 300 DPI.) File format: We recommend AVIF, WebP, or JPEG. For illustrations, PNG is also fine. If you share an SVG, it should be under 250KB with no embedded images. (Our system supports most other image file formats too, but the quality might be affected during conversion.) File name: Use plain English, including spaces. Don't replace spaces with dashes, underscores, etc. You can include periods, commas, parentheses, and/or a copyright symbol in the filename. For example, here are some filenames on a Mac: Usage of Your Photos and Other Creative Works This website uses content and automated feeds from the FFSC Facebook group, FFSC Instagram posts, FFSC's iNaturalist projects, FFSC's YouTube, and other social media managed by FFSC. This means any artwork or other works that you post to FFSC-managed pages/feeds may also be displayed on this website without notice or a photo credit. If we individually select one of your photos/videos from an FFSC social media channel or system and include it on this website, we'll do our best to include your name as a credit on hover (or mobile device tap). That said, if you see one of your own photos on this website without a photo credit, it's probably because we didn't know you took it (or one of our volunteers forgot to include it). Feel free to use the Contact Us form on this website to let us know whether you'd like to be credited (or if you would like us to remove the photo). Including Someone Else's Photo If you saw a beautiful photo on someone else's website and you'd like to share it, you can post a link to it in our Google Group or our Facebook group. If you're writing an article for this website and you want to include photos that you didn't take yourself, one option is to provide a link to the original photo (rather than including the photo as an attached file). Depending on the source website, our system might render the first image on the target page as part of the link. For example: www.inaturalist.org inky caps (Genus Coprinus) inky caps from Santa Cruz County, US-CA, US on October 30, 2016 at 09:06 AM by Peter Vahlberg. Gigantic! www.mykoweb.com California Fungi: Cantharellus californicus Photographs and descriptions of the Mushrooms and other Fungi of California, USA That said, if you prefer to include the image inline, then you must have the transferable legal right to copy and share the photo on this website: You must make sure the photo is licensed for free, non-commercial use worldwide. Be sure to include whatever credits the photographer requires, and also let us know where you found the photo (e.g., is it from Mushroom Observer, MykoWeb, iNaturalist, etc.). Do not include any photos, videos, or images you downloaded from Google or other search engines. Those images are often protected under copyright law. If you're using a mushroom stock photo, it must be licensed for free noncommercial use worldwide, and please make sure it's a genuine photo (not generated by AI). See FFSC Terms of Use for more information about the use of copyrighted content on this site. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

I Took a Walk. Helvella lacunosa (fluted black elfin saddle). Photo by Kaye Peyron I took a Walk Kaye Peyron Found in Watsonville, CA. During this time of year it was rainy and cold. At first we almost missed it because it was under all these leaves. We did not collect this baby elfin for it needed more time to grow before consideration of collecting. Camera Canon EOS 60D Focal L. 85mm Aperture f/5.6 Shutter Sp. 1/100s ISO 1000 Flash Off Photo taken on March 1, 2019 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Mushroom Poisoning If you suspect you have consumed a poisonous mushroom, call 911. Then go to the Emergency Department, and call Poison Control: 1-800.222.1222 Galerina marginata group. Photo by Christian Schwarz Emergency Procedures If you suspect you have consumed a poisonous mushroom: Call 911 Go to the Emergency Department Call Poison Control @ 1-800.222.1222 Call toll-free 24-hours a day, 365 days a year, with poison-related questions or help in California. Santa Cruz Area Hospitals Watsonville Community Hospital : (831) 724-4741 Dominican Hospital, Santa Cruz : (831) 462-7700 Dominican Hospital and Watsonville Hospital keep a list of contacts to help with identification of suspect fungi. Some hospitals have engaged in clinical trials for the immediate treatment of amatoxin mushroom poisonings. Call 911 and talk to a doctor to determine the best course of action if you suspect you or someone you know may have been poisoned. Bring the Mushroom With You If you believe a mushroom poisoning has occurred, the doctors will need to identify the mushroom so they can determine the most appropriate treatment. For an accurate identification, your best chance is to bring a sample of the mushroom with you. The more complete your specimen is, the better chance to ID it correctly. A complete specimen consists of the cap, stem, bottom of the mushroom and any roots or fluff that may have been part of the mushroom at one time. Store the specimen in a paper or waxed paper bag (not plastic) in the refrigerator until needed. Note where the mushrooms were collected in case of potential contamination by pesticides or heavy metals from lawns, roadsides or industrial areas. Non-Emergency Recommendations There is an old saying that “There are old mushroom hunters, and bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.” Bit of exaggeration? Sure. But it’s critically important to know what you’re eating! Mushroom Identification The term "poisonous" refers to a wide range of toxicity, covering the range from mild nausea to allergic reactions to life-threatening illness. For general identification of mushrooms you’ve found (not a poisoning case) we encourage you to bring them to our Monthly Meeting or the annual Santa Cruz Fungus Fair . You can also send a Mushroom ID request to our FFSC community mailing list (our Google Group), or via the Contact FFSC page on this website. Pet Poisonings Pets, particularly dogs, eat wild mushrooms on occasion. While the majority of these mushrooms are not toxic, a highly toxic small percentage can cause illness and death in pets. Contact your veterinarian if you see your pet consume a wild mushroom and bring a sample of the mushrooms in the area. For more information see Mushroom Poisonings in Dogs and Cats on the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) website. Report All Poisonings NAMA (North American Mycological Association) tracks all mushroom poisoning incidents. It is important to file a report, even for a minor gastrointestinal upset. After the incident, help document mushroom poisonings by submitting an online report or mail-in report to the NAMA Poison Case Registry. Learn More about Mushroom Safety The California Poison Control System (CPCS) Bay Area Mycological Society: Mushroom Poisonings North American Mycology Association: Mushroom Poisonings Wikipedia: Mushroom Poisoning Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

Cookeina tricholoma (Mont.) Kuntze (2014, Yukatan). Photo by Yev Nyden Cookeina Kuntze Sprouting from Forest Litter in Quintana Roo Yevgeny Nyden Thank you Yev Nyden for contributing this exotic find from Quintana Roo, Mexico. Yev says he stumbled upon this peculiar looking mushroom while hiking Nohoch Mul temple in Coba. Enjoy! More about cup fungi in the genus Cookeina : Cookeina , Wikipedia Bristly Tropical Cup (Cookeina) , iNaturalist Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark III Focal L. 97mm Aperture f/4.0 Shutter Sp. 1/2s ISO 500 Flash Off Photo taken on November 26, 2014 Mushroom(s) Cookeina tricholoma (Mont.) Kuntze (bristly tropical cup) Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Puff of Smoke (Caloscypha fulgens). Lassen National Park. Photo by Hugh Smith Puff of Smoke Hugh Smith Caloscypha fulgens disperses its spores using synchronous spore ejection (a single rapid burst). Camera (Not provided) Focal L. Aperture Shutter Sp. ISO Flash Photo taken on June 4, 2016 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Spooky Grisette (Amanita constricta). Photo by Adam Ryszka Spooky Grisette Adam Ryszka Even fungus likes to dress up. This Amanita species, possibly Amanita contricta ( grisette ), has patches of universal veil tissue resembling a skeletal hand. Thank you Adam for providing this great photo from up in Oregon. Camera Samsung SGH-T989 Focal L. 4mm Aperture f/2.7 Shutter Sp. 1/300s ISO 50 Flash Off Photo taken on October 16, 2016 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

News & Stories / Writings Haikus Celebrating the Secret Life of Fungi FFSC President Richard Lyness challenged the membership to come up with our own haikus based on the 2016 Fungus Fair theme, "The Secret Life of Fungi". Katherine (Kitty) Elvin • December 17, 2015 Albion Finds. Photo by Zachary Hunter Haiku is a Japanese poetry form. A haiku uses just a few words to create an image in the reader's mind. Traditionally the haiku is written in 3 lines: Five syllables Seven syllables Five syllables Here are haikus our members came up with. "The Secret Life of Fungi" Fungus fair haiku mycellium duff spores rain creative and fun -- Richard Lyness "Fall" Fall is upon us The secret life of fungi Soon to be revealed - -Kathy Welch "Untitled" Cleaning chanterelles Golden glow beneath the mud My, that’s a big one! --Deb "Mushroom haiku" What mushroom are you? Small brown job or something more? Rain drops light your top. --Shea "Red drops" Little red drops peek Hiding in the fuzzy duff Yellow lips glisten --Shea "Mushroom Haiku" First-rain scent rising Moss-quiet expectation Pathless, perfect woods --Susan Labiste "Mushroom Haiku" Matsutake bride In deep humis lies the mate holds her threaded veil --Susan Labiste "haiku" hyphae intertwine beneath the moist duff and soil primordia grow --Marjorie Young Share More Poetry You can share your haikus or other poetry on the FFSC Google Group, FFSC Facebook group, and/or (as of 2025) our new FFSC Discord channel! Join our conversations your favorite way. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 40th Fungus Fair: Time lapse of the Island setup Fair News A Short History of the Fungus Fair Fair News Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Four Dry Season Mushrooms At the beginning of the season, while we wait patiently for the fall rains to arrive, there are still some interesting sporocarps lurking in our local outdoor spaces. ... Two Princes Oyster mushrooms ( Pleurotus ostreatus ) and the Prince ( Agaricus augustus ) often fruit in the summer fog season, and Dead Man’s Foot or the Dyers Puffball, ( Pisolithus arhizus ) pops up unexpectedly in dry meadows and sandy trails with hardly any moisture. But one of the most spectacular dry season fungi is the Hardwood Sulfur Shelf, Laetiporus gilbertsonii . Chicken roosting In our area, L gilbertsonii is found on eucalyptus, oak, and other hardwood species. It can grow on logs, stumps, or on dead or living trees and can fruit in inland valleys during the driest part late summer without any sign of nearby moisture. It first appears as a small blob, expanding into broad semicircular shelves that can form rosettes or impressive clusters with overlapping layers. The main body is a striking salmon pink to orange color with bright lemon yellow or sulfur yellow pores on the undersides of the tips. When fresh, the colors are vibrant and the texture is soft and spongy. (Members can view photos of a Time Lapsed Laetiporous for examples of this growth.) With age, the fruiting body slowly turns lighter in color and becomes harder and more brittle, eventually turning dull white. Crumbly remnants can persist for months before slowly weathering away. Laetiporus is a brown rot fungus, a type of saprobe which breaks down the cellulose in dead wood. The affected wood will often appear brown, cracked, and shrunken with a soft brittle texture. It is also parasitic, so living trees can be hollowed out and drop large branches or break in strong winds, so you have reason for concern when you find this fungus on that old oak tree that is shading your house. But on a more positive note, when fresh and tender, Laetiporus gilbertsonii is a prized edible, commonly referred to as “chicken of the woods.” It is one of the “foolproof four” wild edible mushrooms recommended by Clyde Christianson in his book Common Edible Mushrooms , first published in 1943. Along with the giant puffball, ( Calvatia gigantea ), morels ( Morchella sp. ), and the shaggy mane ( Coprinus comatus ), “chicken of the woods” was considered to be a choice edible that was both abundant and distinctive enough that a prudent beginner could easily identify it without risk of confusion with any dangerous species. But of course nothing is completely foolproof. Christianson’s “chicken of the woods” was Laetiporus sulphureus , which has since been divided into at least eight distinct species including our L. gilbertsonii and another western species L. conifericola , which not surprisingly grows on conifers. Most of the species are so similar, that they cannot be differentiated by macroscopic or microscopic physical characteristics alone. Looking at the species of wood they are growing on, location on the tree, and region where they are found provides some clues, and DNA sequencing is ongoing to clarify the definitions of this group of similar species. Luckily, all seem to be relatively safe edibles. What is meant by relatively safe, you might ask? Just like chicken, chicken of the woods should be cooked thoroughly. Though it is not fatal, people have been sickened by eating raw or undercooked Laetiporus . Only tender young fruiting bodies or the tender outer tips of older specimens should be eaten. There are reports of gastric upsets caused by fungus harvested on eucalyptus, though many people (including the author) have eaten L. gilbertsonii from eucalyptus without any ill effects. Still it is best to eat just a bit the first time to make sure you don’t have a bad reaction. L. conifericola is equally edible and should be treated with the same precautions. And again, don’t forget to cook it thoroughly. But when well cooked, this mushroom does make a good chicken or meat substitute. With its firm flakey texture and a bit of imagination, some people claim it tastes just like chicken (or snake or turtle etc). There are about as many ways to cook this mushroom as there are to cook chicken. Here is one recipe to start with, Curried Green Beans with Sulphur Shelf . Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description